Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC)

STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

From student to U.S. citizen and school employee, one LASCC graduate keeps aiming higher

In 2015, when Perla Tapia immigrated to the United States, she spoke very little English. A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Tapia arrived here with virtually nothing at the age of 19 with her husband, two-year-old son and the determination to improve her life and the life of her child. Ten years later she has an education, a fulfilling job and U.S. citizenship.

Tapia has worked as a bilingual liaison employee at Lompoc High School and the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC). It’s at LASCC where she learned English, found help attaining citizenship and began her educational and career journey.

“The first year was difficult here,” Tapia says. “I left everything and moved to a new place with new people. Plus, I wasn’t able to communicate with anyone.”

“I’m always trying to improve and continue with my education,”

Perla Tapia, Bilingual Liaison Employee, Lompoc High School and Lompoc Adult School and Career Center

Her successful transition from new immigrant to productive, working citizen took hard work and consistent resolve. Tapia gives equal credit to LASCC and its staff, who supported her in furthering her goals, particularly the school’s principal, Elaine Webber.

“She’s always trying to help all the students and staff to improve their lives,”. Tapia says. “She encourages us to continue our education.”

Tapia also has high praise for the teachers at LASCC.

“All the teachers do a great job. They’re always trying to support the students,” she says.

Several years after she arrived in the U.S., Tapia started taking English as a second language classes at LASCC.

“My hometown didn’t have a lot of schools. No college or university,” she says.

The young Tapia wanted more from life.

“I’m always trying to improve and continue with my education,” she says.

As a mother, Tapia liked that LASCC’s flexible schedules suited her busy life. She was able to stretch completion of her ESL classes over a few years.

Her next step came in taking paraeducator classes in 2020, the pathway to becoming a teacher’s aide. After completing the course, however, she learned that she needed a high school diploma in the U.S. in order to attain that position.

Even before she finished earning her diploma at LASCC, a determined Tapia worked toward yet another goal: becoming a U.S. citizen. She managed to complete both goals in 2021.

After, Tapia still wasn’t finished. Once she was qualified to be a teacher’s assistant, she applied for and obtained a job as a bilingual liaison and now works at an elementary school, as a full-time bilingual liaison. Her job entails communicating with parents who are native Spanish speakers.

Tapia plans to continue learning and advancing in her career. Her ultimate goal is to become a teacher and work with kids.

“I need to improve my English,” she says. “I hope that next year I can start with some college classes.”

“Every day is a chance to learn something new,” Tapia says.

For more information on the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center visit learned English to get Diploma and Career.

STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

A mother earns her high school diploma to set an example for her son

When her 14-year-old son struggled to find motivation in his freshman year of high school, Danielle Thomas knew she could set a good example by earning her own high school diploma at the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC).

The school offers a free and flexible high school diploma program that can be completed entirely online. The program offers one-on-one support, career and job search and college transition assistance.

The oldest of Thomas’ three children started high school in 2023, and struggled to find the motivation to graduate and complete his education.

“I wanted to actively show my son instead of just telling him, this is why he needs to go. I wanted to show him that if I can do it, he can do it.”

Danielle Thomas, Graduate, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center High School

“I wanted to actively show my son instead of just telling him, this is why he needs to go,” Thomas says. “I wanted to show him that if I can do it, he can do it.”

In addition to setting an example for her three kids, Thomas knew a diploma was necessary to further her life and career. To achieve that, Thomas fast-tracked her diploma completion with the help of her teacher at LASCC and received her diploma in June 2023.

“Finding a schedule to sit down and complete the assignments, I juggled it around for a while, so I found one that fits,” Thomas says. “Once I did, with determination, I just dove in.”

Thomas credits her teacher, Lynn Maxwell, for helping her complete her diploma program, and said Maxwell would not hesitate to provide additional help when it was needed.

“Anytime I needed help with an assignment because I didn’t understand something, she would make time for me to come in and sit down for a few hours with her,” Thomas says. “[She would] explain how to do it and show me what I needed to do.”

Now, Thomas is getting a head start on setting the next example for her kids as a college student. In September, Thomas began her first semester at Grand Canyon University, where she is studying behavioral science with an emphasis on adolescence and childhood.

“I can be an active example daily of showing them that Mommy does it too,” Thomas says.

To learn more about the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center, visit High School Student Success Story

Written by Chris Woodard

After many false starts, a mother finally gets back on track in a medical certification program

Elo Pantoja, 42, has long dreamed of becoming a nurse. After she graduated high school in 2001, she started taking the required pre-nursing courses, but was sidetracked by the birth of her daughter, now 20. When Pantoja resumed her pursuit of nursing in 2009, she again was sidetracked—this time by the birth of her son, now 15.

“I guess third time’s the charm,” Pantoja says now.

Pantoja’s latest attempt has brought her to the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC), which offers a wide variety of classes to students of all ages in and around Santa Barbara County. Attendees can enroll in high school diploma classes, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and, like Pantoja, medical certification programs.

Pantoja is now enrolled in the LASCC’s phlebotomy program, which teaches aspiring healthcare professionals how to collect blood samples from patients. The eight-week course combines online learning with in-person training, the latter which involves students coming to campus once a week to watch presentations, fulfill testing requirements, and even practice jabbing each other with needles.

“If I could do it all over again, I’d probably stick to school the first time around. But everything happens for a reason.”

Elo Patoja, Student, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center

“Everybody’s fair game,” Pantoja says. “If I poke you, you poke me. There’s no reservations.”

Pantoja says she values the trusting relationship she has with her classmates, as well as her instructor, Becky Flores, who’s worked as a phlebotomist for over 20 years.

“We all get along and we’re on the same page,” Pantoja says.

Once the class concludes, Pantoja and her classmates will work a 40-hour externship at Flores’ workplace, the Lompoc Valley Medical Center. There, students will receive real-world experience as they practice intravenous pokes and blood draws on patients.

In the meantime, Pantoja works full-time at a local eye center as a surgery counselor, a job she’s had for six years. She also continues to expand her education. In June, she received an associate’s degrees in both liberal arts and science and behavioral health from Allan Hancock College. Currently, she is on the wait list to get into the school’s associate’s in nursing program, a wait which can take two to three years.

Once she secures her associate’s in nursing, Pantoja says she hopes to help some of medicine’s most vulnerable groups.

“I like working with older adults, like the geriatric group,” Pantoja says. “I feel like they’re the most misunderstood group, along with children.”

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Pantoja also wants to help Spanish-speaking patients, who often struggle with the language barrier.

Pantoja credits her parents, children—which include a stepdaughter, 21, and her domestic partner of 16 years for supporting her journey through adult education. The secret to their support, Pantoja says, is “non-judging.”

“If I could do it all over again, I’d probably stick to school the first time around,” Pantoja says. “But everything happens for a reason.”

To any adult considering going back to school, but afraid to take the first—or third—step, Pantoja offers a simple message.

“Do it—it’s never too late,” she says. “You’ve just got to do what’s right for you.”

For more information on the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center’s high school degree program visit student success stories.

After a few false starts, a mother finally earns her high school diploma

After a life of being an eager starter and not too great of a finisher, Denise Martinez found a new spark after completing one of her most significant accomplishments: completion of her high school diploma at the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC).

LASCC offers a free and flexible high school diploma program that can be completed entirely online. The program offers one-on-one support, career and job search assistance and college transition assistance.

After working at most of the fast-food restaurants in town, Martinez wanted better career options; she tried to enroll at Allan Hancock College but quickly learned that she couldn’t without that high school diploma.

“In my life, I never really finished things. Being able to complete adult school here in Lompoc was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.”

Denise Martinez, Graduate, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center

In 2018, Martinez made her first attempt to complete her high school diploma at LASCC but an expanding family and a global pandemic kept her from finishing. In 2021, she refocused and finally completed what she set out to do, graduating in 2022.

“In my life, I never really finished things,” Martinez says. “Being able to complete adult school here in Lompoc was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.”

Martinez is thrilled she got to provide an example for her eldest son, who graduated from Lompoc High the same year she received her diploma. Despite some differences in their coursework due to the adult school’s accelerated schedule, mother and son were able to help guide each other. It helped her keep going even as she juggled multiple responsibilities.

“I’m a full-time student, an employee, a mom and a wife,” she says. “There are lot of roles that I have to play.”

“We were studying the same math course and we were able to help each other get through that course together,” Martinez says.

Today, Martinez is enrolled at Allan Hancock, where she’s studying computer science and working as a library technician. Her son is also continuing to work on his dream of becoming and architect. While finishing her diploma was step number one, Martinez says she determined to finish the ultimate goal. She credits her son with finding the motivation to keep going.

“He’s my biggest inspiration, seeing him grow and mature into this and follow his dreams is what inspired me to follow mine,” she says.

To learn more about the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center, visit high school diploma student success story.

Written by Chris Woodard